The School of Natural Resources & Environment offers four graduate courses that explicitly build skills and understanding in the collaborative dimension of ecosystem management. These courses are structured to provide students with the conceptual frameworks necessary for understanding the political and organizational context within which EM occurs; the range of interests and issues at stake; the incentives affecting the behavior and strategies of those involved; theories of multi-party public conflict management; the structure and functioning of collaborative dispute resolution and problem-solving processes in EM; and, the communication, negotiation and facilitation skills necessary to effectively initiate, participate in, or manage a collaborative process.

Natural Resource and Environmental Conflict Management
NRE 532

Professor Julia Wondolleck

The focus of this course is on understanding the causes, dynamics and consequences of natural resource and environmental conflicts as well as on understanding the range of possible approaches to managing these conflicts. The course explores traditional procedures used to manage disputes in the public sector and analyzes why these traditional mechanisms frequently fail when confronting environmental and natural resource problems and disputes. Recent innovations in public dispute resolution, from formal mediated negotiations to informal multi-party collaborative planning and problem-solving efforts, are analyzed to determine when and how they are appropriate and effective in managing environmental and resource disputes. Case materials are drawn from current issue areas including public lands management, ecosystem management, offshore oil exploration and development, hazardous waste facility siting, endangered species conservation, air and water pollution control, community planning, and watershed management.

 

Negotiation Skills In Environmental Dispute Resolution
NRE 533

Professors Julia Wondolleck and Steven Yaffee

This course is a half-term module that develops skills in bargaining and negotiation as they can be applied to the resolution of environmental disputes. It will help a student prepare for and carry out a negotiation, become a more effective communicator, and understand the psychological dimensions inherent in negotiation processes. In addition, the course examines mechanisms for assisting negotiations including facilitation and mediation. The course employs a series of role play simulations that allow students to engage in controlled bargaining situations, followed by debriefings that critique strategy and styles. In addition, a framework for negotiation analysis is developed that draws on literature in the areas of decision analysis, social psychology, and public policy.

 

Mediation Skills
NRE 501-051

Instructors: Todd Bryan, Julia Wondolleck, and Steven Yaffee

This course is an intense 20-hour workshop conducted over a long weekend and employs the same model and approach of most professional mediation and facilitation training workshops. Its objective is to develop an understanding among students of the stages and evolution of a negotiation process and the intervention tools and techniques that can be employed by a mediator to assist others in group problem-solving and negotiation processes. The course highlights the common challenges faced by mediators, particularly in environmental and natural resource dispute contexts, and different strategies for dealing with these challenges. Hands-on skills are developed and critiqued through mediation exercises and simulations.

Resource Policy and Administration
NRE 562

Professor Steven Yaffee

Examines processes of resource policy formation and administration, and the behavior of government institutions as they shape natural resource policies and management programs. Develops an analytic ability to disaggregate complex political and management situations, assess the feasibility of resource policy changes, and build strategy to get such changes adopted and implemented. Cases explore situations at the federal, state, and local levels.

Home Page: http://www.umich.edu/~nre562

 

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